30 Friends: Satoshi and Daisuke
by LeonaWriter
Summary: I give in. A challenge to write about the friendship of two characters in thirty themes. I'm was going to try to get them posted in order, starting with number one, Platonic Love. Now up as they come.
1. After The Play

30 Friends – Satoshi and Daisuke

Title: After the Play

Theme 1 – Platonic love

---

In all the midst of clearing up after the class play of Ice and Snow: Dark Version, Daisuke had not had the chance to speak to each other. Or, more likely, were both avoiding each other. Which was more likely considering the sheer amount of embarrassment they had both had to go through both during and after the play.

Daisuke's plan had gone surprisingly well, for the most part. He had opted to work with Riku (and by extension Risa, since she had worked on Hiwatari-kun's Dark outfit) to put the costumes away.

Worked well, that is, until the costumes were put away and the twins had to go home, whereas Daisuke didn't need to – rather, his mom expected him to help out.

Besides, it wasn't the helping out that he minded. It was –

"_I love you."_

-said for the play, in an attempt to get the attention of the audience away from the fact that his skirt had just ripped (an attempt that failed due to Riku's misfortunate turning on of the lights at just that moment) and _not_ anything more, but _still_, it was _embarrassing_. Dark had been up in arms about the whole thing, having been against the idea from the very start.

"Oi, Daisuke! Stop loafing around! Go help Hiwatari with the background screens! He can't do it alone, you know!"

Daisuke wilted with a groan.

Attempting to put a cheery smile on his face, he headed over to where the blue-haired boy was working. Hiwatari turned his head, giving him a cool look before returning to his chores.

"Ehh..."

"You can help with this here, Niwa. Fold the ends like this, and. . ."

It carried on like that. Hiwatari knew what to do with everything, and Daisuke himself had picked up more than a few things by his dual interest in art. Every so often, someone would come over to clap one or both of them on the back for a job well done, or just to talk, or try to talk in the case of Hiwatari. After not very long – but what felt like what must have been an eternity to one red-faced redhead – the crowds started to dissipate, and they were mostly left to themselves.

He twitched and looked up. Hiwatari was giving him a strange look.

"Eh?"

The other looked away with a quiet sigh. Closed his eyes for a moment while he spoke.

"I meant it," he finally said.

For a couple of seconds, Daisuke blinked, frantically trying to think about what it was Hiwatari could be meaning, and when he realised he went into a panicked frenzy.

"_Wha- !_ What do you mean you- !?!"

"Of a sort, Niwa."

Daisuke was surprised to hear a certain amount of amusement in the usually flat tones. He melted with relief, arms dropping back to his sides and an exhausted sigh escaping him. Then, one hand snaked up to the back of his neck, a smile finding its way onto his face. He started to laugh.

Some of the few others there stopped and stared at them for a moment before shaking their heads and going back to what they were doing.

The corners of Hiwatari's mouth were twitching.

AN: I don't know if 'daisuki' can be translated this way as well as romantically, but the literal translation that is given in the manga is 'I really, really like you'. Which can be taken many ways. =D

*Fact of the day – The Greeks had four words for love. Eros=body, Storge=affection, Agape=self-sacrificing and Phileo=brotherly.


	2. Sometimes It's Better To Recieve, Too

Title - Sometimes It's Better To Recieve, Too.

#2 - Gifts

Truth to be told, neither Satoshi nor Daisuke were the kind who easily gave things to each other. Daisuke, having grown up in a family of thieves and become one himself – willingly or not – was all too aware of how easily objects could get stolen, broken or used for something they were not meant or designed for. Satoshi had merely seen what forming attachments had caused his ancestors in the past, the effects of caring for someone other than himself in the present.

Besides, most of he Hikari family art ended up with the Niwa clan anyway.

Some gifts, however, were received without even having been known to have been given.

A bright smile in passing in the hall, just one of the things that marked Niwa's cheerful disposition.

Company, when he had been alone for so long that he had forgotten that he needed it.

Someone else who understood his situation yet did not turn from him, think he was horrific, or decide that they were better off as enemies.

Pausing over his work at home, Satoshi smiled. Some things were better than a mere souvenir of a time well spent. They were a promise of a future worth clinging on to.


	3. Waiting In Vain With Company

Title - Waiting In Vain With Company

#3 – Late Night Conversation

Hiwatari Satoshi's eyes widened. What was _he_ doing here? And at this time? If he didn't get a move on, the fool would be late to his own . . . performance. And where would that leave him? He couldn't, according to both his own rules and conscience, chase the thief if he wasn't the thief at the time.

Red hair bobbed in the crowd until it reached a point where the face could also be seen, and eyes of the same colour brightened, a hand raising to wave an energetic greeting.

Satoshi groaned. It was hardly the most inventive way onto the crime scene, and out of character for Dark to miss out on an opportunity to show off.

Determined to get to the bottom of the conundrum, he headed over to the line of people behind the police tape.

"Niwa," he said, acknowledging the other boy. "What, exactly, are you doing here?"

"Eh. . ." Hand behind his head and dressed in a red shirt and jeans, it was definitely Niwa. "Actually, I came to talk to you."

Blue eyes rose, incredulous.

"You could have said whatever you needed to say earlier, or waited until later. As you can see, I happen to be busy." _And so should you be_, he didn't say out loud.

"Uh, yeah. About that. . ."

Eyes narrowed and suspicions confirmed, he motioned the other boy past the tape, signalling to the officer in the area that nothing was wrong.

"Well?"

He had picked a place only moments away from police backup if it tuned out to be necessary, but with enough privacy that they wouldn't be overheard.

"It's just that, uh, that note. It can't be the real thing. It was sent too late, and, uh, yeah. . ."

Satoshi gave him a level look, curious as to what else might have been said if the location were different and they weren't supposed to be enemies. Probably that Niwa hadn't been told, or something along those lines.

Because now that he thought about it, in all the rush since the phone call that had come during the end of school hours to tell him of the Dark heist and now, he had not once set eyes on the note to be able to verify the truth.

Turning his back to look at the scene and hands in pockets, he sighed.

"Why tell me?"

"Eh? But you're the one in charge of all the police things to do with Dark." A slight pause. "Plus, I didn't think it'd be a very nice thing to just let you get caught out like that by an imposter."

Unseen, his eyes widened slightly. So Niwa also had his own sort of honour about these things. He shouldn't really be so surprised, though.

"And why else are you here?"

Niwa laughed nervously.

"Just in case."

Satoshi thought about it, and nodded, once. It was a win-win situation.

---

AN: To make things clear, in the manga, there's a fake heist that's tried but isn't even a heist, it's just a note. For this, the note was a good forgery, and was sent to a museum different from the one Emiko was casing out. Okay?

Also, some of these may work from the manga purely, and some from the anime purely, and some may borrow from both. Just to let you know.


	4. The Same Path

Title - The Same Path

#4 – Walk Beside Me

---

After the shock of the meaning of what exactly it was that Niwa Kosuke had entrusted to him had worn off, Satoshi had, for a while, found himself relaxing. Not that it was that hard, so far from Azumano, away from distractions and the people who made his life equally more enjoyable and more problematic. Krad had no stimuli from his side that could give him any leverage, and there were no reasons for the homicidal angel to force his way out so far away from where Dark was.

After a while, though, he started to think through his options.

It hadn't completely been his choice to leave like he had. Of course he had been planning to sooner or later, but he had woken up to find himself elsewhere, but luckily not somewhere completely unknown. For some reason he had been taken to the same place he had meant to go to anyway, which was a small relief.

For a short while, he had simply let himself be, without wondering why he was there and not in Azumano.

Slowly, though, he had started to realise that, even though both he and they were safer as things were, he missed the place and the people that had become a home to him. The way that Saehara was always annoying. The way that Harada Risa always smiled but never simpered – at least, around him. The way that Dark, while he was a bane inferior only to his own personal demon, was always able to give him enough and more of a challenge to keep him interested and his mind active. The way that Niwa smiled each day, no matter what had happened the previous night and the roles they had played. The fact that, to one person at least, he was understood.

It was a small epiphany to realise that he could do what it was that his heart wished for, if only for once.

He went back to Azumano, and into a hunt for a missing and dangerous artwork, one that had kidnapped a friend of both Niwa and him.

It was a relief, then, that gift that Niwa's father had given him. But it wasn't the only thing that made him go up to the redhead while the other was watching over the older Harada. It only made things easier. A hundred times easier, knowing that he was less likely to hurt and hinder rather than help, but all the same. . .

It felt good after all the times he had chased Niwa's alter ego to be actually working with him rather than against him. The same goal. The same purpose. For once, the same path, walking side by side.

Perhaps it would change once they had ensured that Harada-imouto was safe and sound.

Perhaps they would find some way to walk the same path again.


	5. The Light that Doesn't Shine as Brightly

#5 – Hidden Treasures

Title - The Light that Doesn't Shine as Brightly

---

Like always, Daisuke had stayed in the Art club classroom long after the rest of the students had packed up and gone home so that he could finish his latest piece. Completely lost in what he was doing, he didn't notice when Hiwatari Satoshi quietly slid into the room, having seen the light still on. The Hikari watched as the painting slowly came to life, first with one colour and then with another. When at long last Daisuke put down his paints and declared to what he believed to be an empty classroom that he was done, the blue-haired boy took a step backward, in order to avoid being hit by fists on the ends of stretching arms that were deceptively strong.

". . . it's good," he said at last.

Daisuke jumped nearly a foot into the air, only just managing to catch the unsealed paints before they flew free and started painting him and Hiwatari instead of the canvas. As soon as he had done so, he stood up in front of it, looking between the finished painting and his friend.

"It's not that good. Really. I could never do anything half as good as yours. . ."

Hiwatari looked away for a moment, gaze lingering in the direction of the place where most of the other unfinished or completed artworks were being kept. Everyone praised Hiwatari-kun's work – and for good reason, too. Each and every single one of his drawings were effortlessly breathtaking.

"That's not the point," the boy said, putting his hands into his pockets. "I create art because of who I am. But simply because it is art, it isn't always beautiful. . . just because the artist has skill, does not mean to say that their work will be treasured." A tilt of the head, and Hiwatari gave both painting and artist one last glance before leaving. "Just because I find it easier to make things look the way that I want them to, does not mean to say that everything I do has that same heart that I see in yours, Niwa."

Satoshi strode off, leaving Daisuke staring after him. The redhead was smiling, but even through his happiness at being praised, he understood what had been said. He had seen so very many times how bored Hiwatari was at the amount of praise he received for work that he hadn't needed to even concentrate to do.

Still, it didn't take anything away from the fact that Hiwatari-kun had complimented . . . _him_.


	6. A Promise Kept

#6 – Promise

---

There had been a time, at some point, when Daisuke had found a meaning in his life that was worth more than just living up to his family name, less than simply surviving without being locked up in a police cell or sent off to the generic-nightmare-type freak show for being so weird.

That, he would admit to himself, had been when Freedert had pleaded with him to live, and not just to continue existing, but to live happily for others, specifically for the one person in whom his happiness would mean their happiness.

He could say that it meant Riku, and he would be right. Yet he could also say the same of so many other people, too – his mother and his father were both those type of people who meant so much to him, and he meant that much to them, too. The elder Harada, Risa, still meant a lot to him, even if it wasn't in the same way as before. He had never had a younger or even older sibling – not mentioning Dark, though he would make up for the whole annoying older brother role all too well – but that was what she now felt like to him, after so long.

It had been a while since Dark and Krad had been sealed, now. A while since he and Riku had been in a steady relationship with no deceit on either part. He supposed he was allowed to feel that way about her sister.

Yet the oath held true for Hiwatari-kun, as well.

Having lived most of his life to hold and cage the demon inside him, Hiwatari hadn't really known what to do when freed. And so, Daisuke had given him the only thing he could think of – the promise that Freedert had asked him to keep for her. To live for that other person who would mean the world to him. For whom it would mean the end of a world for them to die.

Although Daisuke did not think of Hiwatari-kun in the same way as he did Riku, he did not think that his world would be the same without the blue-haired boy. It brought something warm to his heart to see him smile his rare true smiles – less and less rare nowadays, and more and more common around Risa-san. A feeling of pride whenever he saw the other participate in class group activities of his own free will, rather than being bribed and cajoled. A gnawing worry whenever he was sick or missed classes.

But then again, he supposed that that was what it felt like to have someone who really was just your best friend.

---

Satoshi supposed that in a way, he had started life afresh from that moment in his mindscape, when he had been stopped from ending his life and given a reason to live all in the same timeframe. The dawn had felt new, every sensation heightened as he felt things as though for the first time.

Being free took a while to get used to. He simply wasn't used to it. For a while, he kept his defences up out of nervous habit, something that still happened ages afterward even when he didn't realise that he was doing it.

Niwa, however, was almost always there. Not obsessively or compulsively, but simply there. The words and motions that had once annoyed him now reminded him that he did not have to be opposed to the boy any more. That he could trust.

Which was probably, he often thought, exactly what Niwa intended.

The promise that the redhead had pulled out of him that day stayed with him. Not a day went by when he didn't think about it in at least some way. After all, if it hadn't been for those words, he wouldn't have been alive to think about them.

Sometimes, he let his mind wander to the new relationships he was now able to make and – more importantly – keep. He had never been able to keep a non-hostile relationship going for so long, before.

More often, he thought about how things had changed between him and Niwa. Before, there had been a tentative camaraderie, tense and taut. Now, as the days and weeks went by, he was able to be more and more relaxed around the boy and his family, more and more at ease and informal. He hadn't quite come around to calling Niwa by his first name, though.

Every so often, he would come over for dinner, or the Niwas would invite him out with them, and they would go somewhere together. It was a strange feeling. Almost like being part of a family. Ironic, really, since these were the people he had taught himself to hate. Yet here he was, worrying about them, doing things for them and being there for them.

It was, he would readily admit, all Niwa's fault. If Niwa had not irritated his family, he would never have met them in the first place. If Niwa had not bribed and cajoled him at first, he would never have started to make friends outside of the select group who spoke to him first. If Niwa had not been there, he would never have tried. He supposed that if Niwa had not been there, he would not have known what to do.

That feeling, he thought, was what it must feel like to have a friend that special. The reason why Niwa. . . Niwa Daisuke, called him 'best friend'.

---

Based almost purely on the anime. Hints of manga. At the moment, I have ten of these written, including those posted, but if enough people want it, I may post them up sooner rather than in order.

If anyone's interested, Kyouson is in the latter stages of its second chapter, wherein most of the beginning of the plot has already happened. That chapter alone has three pieces of art. Which will get posted to my art site once I've finished the chapter x_x


	7. Strange Laundry

#7 – An Ugly Shirt

Title: Strange Laundry.

---

It was during the week just following the rescue of one Harada Risa that Daisuke found himself helping his father sort out the laundry. Things were getting back to a sort of normal. Dark was his usual annoying self, Hiwatari-kun was back at school again and moreover, Mom had sent out a warning saying that he – or rather, Dark – was going to steal some ring with a big gem in it in a couple of days' time.

While he attempted to do his share of the work despite certain distractions, his father – enigmatic person that he was – said hardly anything, only speaking when he needed to. His expression flickered every so often between smiling and serious.

One white work shirt, check. That went into his dad's pile. The various pieces of school uniform ended up in his own pile, only to have several taken out and put aside for re-stitching, the results of having his heart race too fast while still in school. Daisuke blushed slightly at the memory, but Kosuke didn't even bat an eyelid. Any number of Dark's shirts and other miscellaneous bits of costume had wormed their way in some way or another, too. Another large pile seemed to consist of half of Niwa Emiko's wardrobe. And then –

"Eh? But what – I remember that shirt. . ."

He'd caught it by the sleeve, and now upon pulling it out was certain. It was the exact same one he had been wearing that day at Azumano Joyland, when Risa had been kidnapped. Turning it over, it turned out that it wasn't even the one that Wiz had been wearing, either. His hand slipped through one of the two tell-tale holes in the back, where the fabric had been ripped due to the force of magic that had been Dark's real wings.

He flinched internally, the sight reminding him of his – their – failure to keep Risa-san safe from harm, even if she hadn't actually been hurt.

"But what's this doing here? I thought you'd got rid of it!"

"Did we say that? Hm. Oops."

Daisuke sighed, and Dark made a snide comment about how Kosuke always seemed to have a hand in everything and anything.

"So, uh . . . why'd you keep it, anyway?"

Kosuke shrugged. "Maybe your mom wanted to use it as fashion inspiration?" At his son's look, though, he relented. "Eh. . . someone else thought you should keep it?"

"Huh?"

Okay, that was a new one. Who else other than his mom and Towa-chan could influence his laundry?

"Your friend, the Hiwatari boy, said that. He seemed to think you'd need the reminder, for some reason." A blush of embarrassment and shame rose to Daisuke's cheeks. The last thing his father had to say on the matter only made it worse. "Then again, it _is_ rather tattered. Maybe we _should_ give it to Emiko after all."

Daisuke's head hit his laundry pile, and he was calling Hiwatari-kun Bad Things in his head.

He doubted he would need a reminder. The sound of the other boy's voice in his memory saying '_Don't let those wings out!_' would, he thought, have been enough.

---

All right, so not very much Satoshi in this one... but I couldn't think of anything else to do with that shirt, and that's just the sort of way Satoshi would interfere in Dai's life.


	8. A Little Fun Doesn't Hurt You

#11 – A Night In

Title – A little fun doesn't hurt you

---

Straight after his first night spent under the Niwa's roof, Satoshi had vanished for a while, hiding himself from the rest of the world and persons in particular who always tended to get him letting down far more of his defences than was generally advisable.

Then had come the Argentine incident, which had brought him back to Azumano, and his later decision to stay in the town for good and make the most of his time.

And make the most of his time he had. Ever since that strange feeling that he had had after using the Rutile, Krad had been almost suspiciously quiet, for the most part only turning up for heists, and even then things were getting steadily easier. Meaning that he did not have to worry so much. Which also meant –

A stray piece of popcorn hit him between his ear and his eye, sticking neatly onto his glasses. Idly, the police commander picked it off and sent a level look at the culprit.

"That," he said in a monotone that bordered on humoured, "was unnecessary."

"Eh? What was?"

The redhead on the other end of the sofa blinked innocently, but Satoshi had long since been immunised to the child-like look. Not even counting Niwa's night-time profession, (and of course his own) he knew all too well what kinds of trouble the fifteen year old could – and sometimes would – get into.

Closing his eyes for only a moment, he sighed. Then, he flicked the piece of popcorn back at the original caster, only to get the boy between the eyes as he turned.

Niwa stared. His eyes widened slightly.

"Hiwatari-kun. . . you. . .!"

Satoshi merely adjusted his glasses and put his focus back on the television. It wasn't a particularly interesting bit of the film at the moment. The villain was making a speech. Nothing very original, and he should know.

"I was merely returning it to it's original owner," he said.

. . . the minion walked in, started talking to the villain, only to get a stray piece of popcorn hit him in the ugly face. Stray, because most of the rest ended up on or around Satoshi himself. One blue eyebrow quirked.

"You've just lost some of your popcorn," he deadpanned.

Niwa simply shrugged, unconcerned.

"Doesn't matter all that much. Besides, I kinda think Mom and Towa-chan got over-excited at making the stuff at home."

. . .Ah. So that would be why this tastes. . . He took some out of his won tub, analysed it. Put it into his mouth, only half concentrating on the movie and trying to ignore the fact that Niwa was laughing at him.

Swallowing, he decided. Niwa subsequently got a face – and hair – full of the stuff.

Soon, what had once been a quiet movie night descended into a battle royale of two, with both outer and inner spectators forming the peanut (or popcorn) gallery.

After all, it wasn't as though having fun could kill you.

Not any more.

---


	9. Whether they Like it or Not

Whether they Like it or Not

#13 - Long Distance

Hiwatari Satoshi kept everyone at a distance. It was one of the most obviously telling traits of his; ironically, one of the many things that made the girls like him, too.

None of the girls, however, knew why he did this. They simply thought that it was cool and made him look good. That maybe he thought that he was better than the others. That maybe he was better, because they, like everyone else, didn't know enough.

Daisuke had unavoidably found out about the true reasons behind his friend's actions as the weeks since first his transformation and then Hiwatari's wore on. Started to understand why the other boy kept his distance and his cold.

But Niwa Daisuke wasn't too good at keeping his distance, especially when it concerned his friends – or, that is, people who he considered friends who would be friends if they would just _give the idea a chance_.

So, little by little, and ignoring Dark as he did so, Daisuke tried (sometimes succeeding and sometimes merely embarrassing himself) to shorten that distance between Hiwatari-kun and the rest of the world.

Slowly but surely, whether either of them knew it or not, his plan was working.

Slowly.


	10. Not All Threats Are Bad

Not All Threats Are Bad

#19 – Lunchtime

---

It had been a while since Hiwatari had returned to school, but he and Daisuke were already back into their lunchtime routine. Whenever for whatever reason they were not with the Harada twins, they would usually find themselves on the roof of the school, out of the way of the rest of the students (and hopefully Takeshi and Keiji, too).

Satoshi, as usual, had his own meagre meal, but Daisuke didn't have to root around very far in his bag to find his – it was too big to get lost.

A blue eyebrow was raised. Daisuke smiled widely, amusement evident.

"I suppose my mom thought you could do with a bit more to eat, so she must've given me enough for two. . . so you might as well have some."

Satoshi blinked twice, looking as though he didn't quite know what was expected of him until a package of onigiri were thrust at him, with various other small foodstuffs following. He blinked again.

"I'm not entirely sure that I could eat this much," he said absently, looking at the food as though it had been booby trapped – and as it had been Niwa Emiko who had made it, the possibility wasn't impossible. Daisuke meanwhile was still taking food out of his lunch bag, though this time he was piling it next to himself.

"Oh, and 'Kaa-san says that if you don't have at least some of it, she'll somehow make you wear something she thought up the other day at the next heist." Daisuke paused, thoughtful but not completely sympathetic. "I'm not entirely sure what she meant when she said 'some'."

Satoshi sighed and resigned himself to Daisuke's mother's good cooking. It wasn't too hard a price to pay for not having to wear anything like one of those getups that Dark could often be seen in, and besides, it was hardly as though he could say he had anything better to eat.

---

...This inspired part of one of my Kyouson scenes. Can't remember if it's chapter one or two right now, though.


	11. The Mornings After the Nights Before

#21 – Common Ground

The Mornings After the Nights Before

---

The morning after was always an ordeal for both of them.

Daisuke, tired from having had not enough sleep and also from having had his body and mind – both minds, technically – worked to the brink the previous night, would still have to go in to school the next day, not just pretending that he wasn't tired, but usually making sure that no one, and that included not just his classmates and sensei, but also Hiwatari-kun especially, found out _why_ he would be so tired. He had to look like normal.

After all, it was just another day, right? And Niwa Daisuke had a night job on at the same time as most Dark heists. So he obviously couldn't have had anything to do with Dark.

For Satoshi, things were slightly different, but not by much. The usual morning routine was harder, and his brain often took longer to wake up. The heist nights when Krad would forcibly take over left him aching and with muscles that felt like they were on fire still even the next evening, sometimes. Yet he absolutely could not show this. It was his problem to deal with, that and catching Dark. But no one at school knew about that, either.

He was just another student, after all. It was just another day. And though Hiwatari Satoshi could have told them that he worked and had a job, it would have drawn attention to him. So he didn't.

And so after a while the two had reached an understanding of sorts to do with mornings: that for that amount of time only, they could ignore whoever else they might be at any other time, and just concentrate on waking up.

The fact that they had both developed a taste for coffee went mostly unnoticed by the student population.

Because they were just normal friends. . . right?


	12. Not Just A Class Time PastTime

# 26 – Passing Notes

Title – Not Just A Class Time Past-Time

---

It had started off as a joke, or at least something like it. Now, it was more like a game.

As Hiwatari Satoshi examined the night's advance notice, he fought off an amused smirk. Yet again, there was the slightest feel of something not quite the same in the blank spaces in between the details of the heist written on the card.

He clearly remembered the first time that it had happened – he had been out of school and had been unable to contact school or anyone else with a reason until late, and even when he had, the general student populace had not been needed to be told. Meaning that Niwa hadn't known, either. That night had been one chosen as a heist night however, and the difference in the feel of the advance notice that first time had almost made him believe that there was a copycat out there somewhere - if that was even possible with the thief in question - until he had thought to shine a bit more light on the matter.

Only to find out that besides the usual notice and signature, an additional _'I was wondering where you were at school today – are you all right?'_ was scrawled in between the calligraphic characters. At the time, he had only just won out on the desire to hit his hand against his head in a rare show of annoyance. If any of the other more junior or even senior police officers or detectives had thought to look for a message hidden with lemon juice, they would have instantly known that Dark was someone who went to school with the commander.

Unable to simply wait until the next day to talk to Niwa due to the business trip that his father required his presence on, he had hastily written down the bare details on a blank piece of card, being more careful than Niwa to not let on who it was for or who it was from. Some time during the heist, the note got dropped into Dark's pocket, and for some reason unknown to the rest of the police, there were no more thefts for the duration of his trip.

Looking down at the current note in the present, Satoshi used his usual trick to see what the writing said. Half expecting something taunting from Dark, he was torn between the urge to smile and the urge to, once again, hit his head against something hard.

'_I know you probably wouldn't want to tonight, but is tomorrow all right? Mom's cooking something up, so d'you want to come?'_

_Well, it isn't as though I have anything else planned_, he thought, rationalising his actions as he scribbled out an almost innocuous looking 'Why not?' on a scrap of notebook paper.

---

AN: ...one of the reasons this one's gone up before most of the others. There is the possibility of follow-ups. Which would look well weird coming _before_ this.


	13. An Unexpected Answer

#27 – Practice

Title - An Unexpected Answer

-----

As Daisuke followed Satoshi to where the other boy said that Argentine was, he was mostly quiet, a stark contrast to his usual energetic self and much more like how he would act on his way to and from a heist. In a way, he was. He had even gone as far as to send an advance notice to Riku.

Every so often, Satoshi would look at him, at times calculating, but just as often Daisuke was sure that he could see a hint of what must be what passed for concern in those usually cold blue eyes.

But while he would normally feel happy about that, right now it only served to irritate him. He didn't need to be worried over. He was fine now. Fine enough.

But even as he thought that, he remembered the events that had started all of this. Flight – Dark in flight – without Wiz. Both of them angry, determined to get Risa back and make Argentine pay no matter what, even if they hadn't known who he was yet. The other thing that Daisuke remembered was that it had hurt. Dark hadn't even been able to fly very far. Then. . . he had fallen, wings failing.

For a while, he thought about this. Then, he asked.

"Ne, Hiwatari-kun."

Satoshi looked over at him, quietly waiting.

"When I. . . when Dark flew, back then, he – we couldn't – I mean... But you, I mean you, uh..." he trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it without being completely insensitive. He could see Satoshi tense anyway already. They walked on, and Daisuke let out a long breath, irritated with himself for not being able to get his question out properly.

". . . Practice," said Satoshi in an unexpected answer. He continued. "My body is more used to the strain. It's less about the pain as it is about not caring that it hurts."

Daisuke hung his head even though Satoshi couldn't see his reaction.

"Oh."

Blue eyes looked back at him, something unreadable in their depths.

"It is one kind of practice that you would do better without, Niwa," he said.

Daisuke remembered heated words as he tried to make wings of his own and also what his father had told him afterwards about the nature of his transformations. The feel of bone-deep exhaustion after the desperation that had been involved in the fight to get Dark back from his mirror world. He remembered, and he nodded slowly.

"I'll do my best, Hiwatari-kun."

----

AN: I'd thought I'd already typed this up at least, but nope. Couldn't find it anywhere. I was sure I'd written it, though – only to find I'd had it waiting in my notepad for ages. -_-


	14. I Didn't Mean It' Doesn't Cut It

#24 – True Friends Stab You In The Front

Title - 'I Didn't Mean It' Doesn't Cut It.

---

It had started with the Harada, and it had, more or less, ended with the Harada.

But it had begun with a few _choice_ words from Niwa.

"Ne, Hiwatari-kun?" the boy had said at lunch that day. "Was it me, or did. . . she did! Risa-san looked over this way! Did you see?"

The last heist had only been two days ago, and Satoshi was not in the mood for anything more than a perfunctory amount of politeness.

"No."

Even then, he barely missed sounding rude.

"She did, though – she did it again, see?" _No, I do not want to see_. "I wonder what they're talking about over there?" _I don't want to know, so why won't you shut up?_ Niwa carried on, blithely oblivious. "I think they're laughing about something..."

"Niwa."

_What, is the idiot still hung up over her, even though he's already a pair with the girl's older sister?_

For some reason, this train of thought did not make things any easier. In fact, it did much to make things worse.

"She's looking over here again," Niwa was saying. "And I know she's looking at us, because- "

"Niwa, _stop it_!"

Satoshi found that he had stood up from where they'd been sitting with their backs against the brick school wall. His fists were clenching and unclenching in anger, panic and fear. Niwa's eyes widened.

"Hi-Hiwatari-kun? What is it? What's the matter? Are you all right?"

"Niwa, just – just leave me alone."

Satoshi made an effort to get away, just by one step and then by another. He could hear footsteps behind him, though, and he stopped short.

"Niwa, I..."

"I just want to help. Hiwatari-kun, if there's anything I can do-!"

"Don't. I think you've done enough damage for today, Niwa."

". . . W-what? I –I don't understand!"

"That's your problem right there, _Niwa_. You don't understand what it's like to be _me_. You're used to your happy, easy life. . . and when times _are_ hard, you know that everything's going to be all right in the end!" He turned back to let Niwa see his anger. "I don't have those reassurances."

He turned back as quickly as he was able, running towards the school gates, a secluded place, anywhere other than where Niwa and the others – _Harada, don't let her see, she'd recognise both of you_ – as quickly as his body, fever-sharp stabs of pain lancing through it, would allow.

He could already feel the unwanted caress of the fallen angel's mind against his, whispering inside his very being.

"_You know, I could almost bring myself to thank the Niwa tamer, this time. Do you think he knows he helped me out?"_

The double meaning was not lost on him, but only served to make him try to run faster.

"Hi... _Hiwatari-kun_-!"

His breath caught in his throat, Niwa's complete and utter concern reaching him from across the short distance. The part-time kaitou was a fast runner.

Harada-imouto's laughter and the sound of that concern called out for him and him alone found themselves overlapping in his mind. They were the things that drove him to his knees, hands falling numbly to the ground as his hair grew long enough to obscure his vision and now-unnecessary glasses fell with a clatter to the concrete of Azumano middle school's playground.

----

The following events went down in the history of the town – a small number of students had seen Hiwatari Satoshi transform into a handsome yet homicidal blond with wings, and Niwa Daisuke had followed not long after, into the more well-known, infamous Phantom Thief Dark Mousy.

The following fight had brought the school building to disrepair – leading to classes being held in temporary put-ups until the refurbishments had been completed – and not a few students had been hurt. Some had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and some had simply tried to get too close to the competitors.

Upon hearing of what was going on, the rest of the Niwa clan had all hurried over to the school, only to find a great many emergency service vehicles and no sign of either Dark or Krad.

Daisuke had later been found holed up in a safe place in the wreckage, unconscious but with the evidence of tears streaming down his face. When he had woken up a day and a half later, he hadn't been able to stop worrying. Hiwatari had looked hurt when they had last seen each other, but he also knew that the blue-haired boy would not want to see him very soon at all. The look in his eyes as they parted told him that his friend blamed him for what had happened.

Daisuke knew that, if nothing else, he blamed himself. It was obvious that a simple 'I didn't mean to' would never cut it.

-------

AN: Don't worry. I'm not ending it here. I've got a couple other of these prompts that'd tie in with this one. I could have done the fight scene, but that would've been Dark and Krad, not Satoshi and Daisuke. Would you believe that the prompt that inspired this little mini-arc was #16, Party?


End file.
